Sermon August 1, 1999 A Treasured Kingdom based on Matthew 13:44-52
Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Especially: "Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old."
Our text today consists of three short parables that Jesus told. Actually it could be considered four parables. They are all part of a conversation Jesus had with His disciples. He had some special things to teach them about the kingdom of heaven and He used parables, stories, to bring His point across. The first three parables teach us what the kingdom of heaven is like. The first two, the Parable of the Hidden Treasure, and the Parable of the Pearl of Great Price, teach of the value of this kingdom. The third, the Parable of the Net, shows who determines citizenship in this kingdom and how and when it is finalized. The last parable is a brief lesson on the value of understanding all that Jesus has been teaching about the kingdom. If you understand how the kingdom of heaven works, then you have treasures to share.
Through the parables, Jesus helps us understand the qualities of this kingdom of heaven. We see what it is like, but do we know what it is in the first place? The kingdom of heaven is the same as the kingdom of God. The kingdom of heaven is much different than earthly kingdoms, however. God's kingdom is not a political reign. It is not anything like the kings of this world, who serve to provide a government for their subjects. The disciples of Jesus certainly wanted the kingdom that He spoke of to be this kind of kingdom. That is why James and John asked to sit in positions of honor, as we heard last week in the Gospel lesson. Those disciples seemed to hang on to this mistaken notion of what the kingdom of heaven meant for some time.
These disciples had missed the point that God's kingdom was already at work. God's kingdom was among them and near them. Jesus said, "'The time has come,' he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" (Mark 1:15) How near was the kingdom? It was as near as their ears. It was as near as their hearts. See, the kingdom of heaven is a kingdom of hearing the good news and believing it. It is a kingdom of faith and trust. It is a kingdom of the heart.
Now we can move on to the question of how valuable in this kingdom? The parables answer that for us. First the Parable of the Hidden Treasure compares the kingdom of heaven to the situation where a man finds a field with a treasure in it that others did not know about. He puts the treasure away for safe keeping while he goes to buy the field. To buy the field and gain access to the treasure in it, he must sell everything he owns. It costs him every last cent to get this field. This man is so joyful over the treasure and he sees the great value of the treasure that he is willing to give up all other things so that he might get it. This shows the great value of the kingdom of heaven.
Next the Parable of the Pearl is used by Jesus to teach the same point. This time the kingdom is compared to a merchant who, while looking for precious pearls, finds one of great value. Like the previous parable, this pearl collector goes and sells everything else he owns so that he might buy the pearl of great value. These first two parables, then, set before us the great value of this kingdom of heaven. It is worth giving up all other things in order to have it.
We would think that since being a citizen of this kingdom is such a valuable thing, all people would want to be part of it. This is not the case, for many do not see the value. They reject the kingdom and throw away something as precious as a great pearl or hidden treasure.
The question in our minds then becomes how we might tell who is a citizen in this kingdom. To answer this question, Jesus tells the Parable of the Net. The dragnet is used for fishing and is thrown out into the water until it is full of fish. Then the net is drawn in and the fish are sorted out. The bad fish are thrown away and the good fish are kept. The point here is that the bad fish are kept until the end. They are not separated until the net is drawn back on shore.
This parable teaches us that the citizens of the kingdom of God will be separated from the non-citizens at the judgment at the end of the age. When Christ returns, accompanied by His angels, they will separate the wicked from the righteous. The wicked will be those who turned down the offer of citizenship. They rejected the kingdom. These wicked ones will experience punishment.
In summary, God determines citizenship. It is finalized at the end of the age. This means that today we cannot determine who will be in the kingdom when Christ returns. We cannot tell because the kingdom is of the heart. Those who believe are citizens. "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." (Mark 16:16) Since we cannot see into other people's hearts, we cannot tell if they are believers. We cannot judge if people are citizens based on what we can see.
This means we cannot put our own qualifications on the kingdom of heaven. We can't say that only LC-MS church members are citizens. We can't say that only those who don't commit certain sins are members of the kingdom. We would not say that by our closed communion practice we are trying to mark those who are true citizens of the kingdom of heaven. Rather, we must leave this matter of citizenship for God to determine. He will finalize it at the end of the age, using His angels as His instruments to separate out those who have rejected the kingdom.
Given the great value of this kingdom, we must consider if we really give it the importance that we ought to give it. The first two parables indicate that these men sold everything they had to get the treasure. They sold everything. These parables come back to us with the sharp double-edged sword of the Law, asking: Where do we fail to put the kingdom of heaven first in our lives? You must consider your own life. Do you put any of these before the kingdom: money, possessions, job, family or recreation. Is there an area of your life where you would just as soon not listen to what God wants and would rather go with your own ideas? Are there activities and interests which draw your attention away from God?
We are taught by Jesus to give up all things that would get in the way of the kingdom. Consider everything else of lesser importance than the kingdom of heaven. It is the most valuable thing, but you and I don't always treat it that way, do we? Other things can take greater importance. We find it so easy to hang on to things which get in the way of the kingdom of heaven. We heard how the men in the parables sold all that they had to gain the treasures but we know we would have trouble giving it all up for the kingdom.
It is a good thing we don't need to buy the kingdom. It is by the grace of God, that He bought the kingdom, valuable as it is, and then gives it to us for free.
How did God buy the kingdom? He bought it by sending His son Jesus Christ as a payment. He lived a perfect life in our places and then He died as the payment for our place in the kingdom. This valuable kingdom took something valuable to buy it, the life of Christ. He gives us His best and His all, by dying for us and then rising for us. The payment has already been made. To purchase the kingdom of heaven, Jesus paid with His life.
To consider how valuable this sacrifice was, ponder this story of a father's sacrifice.
There was once a railroad bridge which spanned a large river. This was the kind which turned one way to let trains across, and another way to let ships go up and down the river. A switchman controlled it from a shack on one side of the river. One evening, as the switchman saw the last train of the day coming, he turned the bridge into position, but to his horror, he found it would not stay locked there. If the bridge was not securely in position, it would cause the train to jump the track and go crashing into the river. This was a passenger train with MANY people aboard.
He left the bridge turned across the river, and hurried across the bridge to the other side of the river, where there was a lever switch he could hold to operate the lock manually. He would have to hold the lever back firmly as the train crossed. He could hear the rumble of the train now, and he took hold of the lever and leaned backward to apply his weight to it, locking the bridge. He kept applying the pressure to keep the mechanism locked. Many lives depended on this man's strength. Then, coming across the bridge from the direction of his control shack, he heard a sound that made his blood run cold.
"Daddy, where are you?" His four-year-old son was crossing the bridge to look for him. His first impulse was to cry out to the child, "Run! Run!" But the train was too close; the tiny legs would never make it across the bridge in time. The man almost left his lever to run and snatch up his son and carry him to safety, but he realized that he could not get back to the lever in time if he saved his son. Either many people on the train -- or his own son -- must die. In the end, this man held the lever in place and the train was safe, but his son died.
This was what the Father did in sacrificing Jesus Christ for us. He died that we might be safe. He went to the cross so we would not have to go.
Now, since this sacrifice has been made for our sins, God sees us as forgiven. Since the price has been paid for us, it makes us more valuable. In God's eyes we are changed from being the bad, rotten fish caught in the net, to the good, valuable fish which are saved. We go from worthless sinners to forgiven pearls. Since our Lord has invested so great a price in saving us, we become valuable to Him. We become pearls of great price.
You may know that pearls are formed in oysters or other mollusks when a foreign material invades, most likely a grain of sand. A pearl starts with a core of dirt and then over the years, the oyster covers the dirt with layers of the same material the inside of its shell is made from. The dirt at the core is covered over and forms a gem. In that same way we have a rotten core because we are sinners born with original sin. Christ covers us with layers of forgiveness and we become pearls. Since Christ covers us we are now holy and righteous before our God. We become valuable because of Christ's sacrifice for us. He gave His life to buy us back from our sins.
These teachings of Jesus in the first three parables were very important. So, He asked the disciples "Have you understood these things?" They answered: "Yes." We have to wonder if they really did understand.
Jesus teaches the disciples one more point, and that is the value of proper understanding regarding the kingdom of heaven. It is again a parable, though this one is very short. One who understands is like a person who brings old and new treasure out from a storeroom. Again, the proper understanding of the kingdom is like having a treasure. This treasure is for sharing as it is the teacher of the law who goes out to teach others. Each of you is a teacher, who shares with others what you have learned about the kingdom. Understanding the kingdom correctly gives you a treasure to share with others. Prov 3:13-14 "Happy is the man who finds wisdom, And the man who gains understanding; For her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, And her gain than fine gold."
The kingdom of heaven is a valuable thing, like a treasure in a field or a great pearl. It is worth giving everything up to get into this kingdom. Though we fall short of giving everything up, our Savior did give up His life to gain this kingdom for us. Now, having been paid for with a great price, we are a valued pearl, forgiven of our sins and saved. We share the treasure of the kingdom with others, telling them about the greatest treasure we have through Jesus Christ. Amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
1) Matthew 13 is a concentrated source of parables. What we have today are three or four of the shorter parables recorded in Scripture. They are one, two, three and one verses long. They are only included in Matthew's Gospel, whereas many other parables occur in more than one of the Gospels. Matthew 13 , contains the Parables of the Sower, the Wheat and the Weeds, the Mustard Seed, the Leaven, and then the ones in our text today. We heard the Parable of the Sower in our Gospel reading two weeks ago.
2) Matthew's Gospel alone uses that phrase "kingdom of heaven" and it occurs 31 times. A much more common phrase in the New Testament is "kingdom of God." That is used 48 times by the other Gospel writers. Most would agree that the two phrases mean the same thing, and Matthew just happens to use a different phrase, perhaps because of the original audience for which he wrote.
3) God's kingdom is a kingdom of heaven, in that heaven is God's home. For example, the current king of Jordan is King Abdullah. The kingdom of Jordan is the same as the kingdom of Abdullah.